Mini Motorsport WRC shares team launch event on Facebook and YouTube

The John Cooper Works WRC brings Mini back to the FIA World Rally Championship.
Mini Motorsport

Huge drifts and squealing tires (in the video below) marked the launch of the new Mini WRC Team at the Mini Plant in Oxford, England. Mini shared that launch on the Mini motorsport Web site, Facebook and YouTube.

Monday's event marked the official launch of the team that will compete in six rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with the Mini John Cooper Works WRC. Based on the Mini Countryman production model, the car is powered by the same 1.6-liter turbo engine used in Mini production vehicles.

The team's first chance at competition, with drivers Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo, will be at Rally d'Italia Sardegna from May 5 to May 8.

"This launch is the next milestone on the long way to our first rally," Meeke said in a press release. "I cannot wait to get the season started. It's nice for everyone in the team to see the result of their work presented in such a spectacular way. The heritage of Mini in motorsport is fantastic. Now we want to make sure we play our part in adding some more chapters to the success story."